N-Gauge: new to this forum and new to N-gauge...

[thenson]

Greetings to all. When I was a kid I remember us having an old o-gauge Lionel train set, then later I had an HO gauge set but never got much into it and never messed with a real layout or scenery.

But, now that I have grandkids I would like to share this hobby with, I got the Bachmann Yard Boss starter set for Christmas... The little beauty was easy to setup and ran perfect, very pleased with it so far... Now I can't wait to add track and scenery.

But, I got the first chance to show my first grandson my train the other day and it only ran for about 60 seconds before some of the links that connect between the wheels came off and one link broke... But I'm not discouraged. The store I bought the set from was very helpful and with a few hours of taking it back to the store to have them get it fixed, they called and said Bachmann was sending out a new train engine right away...

So, as soon as I get it back, I'll be looking to buy an expansion set... what I'm hoping to find is someone that has enough stuff they are wanting to thin out their collection and would like to get enough of the EZ track along with some switches and misc other starter items. So, if you have a misc batch of stuff to sell, please let me know.

thanks and looking forward to having fun with this new hobby...

thenson

[Dna9656]

 I too am new to both the hobby and the forum; I can tell you that so far I have been welcome in a fine manner! I have 2 responses to my 3 or 4 posts (lengthy as they are) and have gained some recommendations and good advice.
I'm thinking your track will do better once it's fastened down to the table top, the electrical connectors at the track ends probably came loose with all the action (running trains and such. Why the loco gave up the ghost is beyond me; I know a little bit about motors and hope to learn a lot more here on this forum!
Bachmann has been around a LONG time and I'm sure they will help get the kinks worked out, the existence of this forum is proof positive they care about what happens after the sale.
I am told Bachmann has 3 lines of trains, I don't know if that means they make 3 grades of trains in each scale they offer or the 3 are each in a different scale.
The major thing is let's have some FUN and relax pursuing our new hobby, let's learn and teach each other what we know to further our enjoyment while we relentlessly go for it!

[thenson]

Thanks for the response...

Can someone comment on whether Bachmann has 3 different grades of engines? and if so, what is the difference?

[brokemoto]

"Grades" of B-mann power

There is an old Standard Line, much of which is out of production.

There is a new Standard Line, most of which is pretty good.

There is the SPECTRUM most of which is excellent.  Some of the earlier runs of the SPECTRUM products had their problems, which
B-mann addressed in subsequent runs.   Some of what was SPECTRUM is now Standard Line.

There was a PLUS.   I had experience only with the F-7s on the PLUS power.  In theory, the design was pretty good, but the gears tended to crack after a short period of use.  B-mann did address the problem and upgraded them initially to SPECTRUM.   There was a third
re-vamping that included the addition of factory DCC and they are now Standard Line.  The SPECTRUM F-7s are allright, the Standard Line F-7s are better.  I would stay away from the PLUS.   If you do find a PLUS for a fire sale price or have one, the shells do swap among the PLUS, SPECTRUM and new Standard Line.  Do not confuse the F-7 with the old Standard Line F-9.  That one is out of production, although many are still out there at shows and at dealers as NOS.

The PLUS rolling stock was allright.  In fact, many wish that B-mann would bring back the PLUS shorty standard passenger cars.  B-mann has discontinued the PLUS line in N scale.  I do not know about the other scales.

[Fred Klein]

Thenson and Dna9656,

Welcome to N scale. I'm a relative newbie in N scale also. I modeled for most of my life in HO (60+ years) but about 6 or 7 years ago I switched to N scale due to space limitations. One of the most useful websites that I have found for getting information, particularly locomotives, is the Spookshow site - www.spookshow.net. Spookshow also posts regularly on this site with valuable advice and information. So again, glad to see you both in N scale and welcome to the site.

[Mike C]

Other good sites ...... Trainboard.com     Nscale.net     and therailwire.com